Trio gear for All-Star game

by Beau Wicker
Pharos-Tribune sports editor

July 18, 2008 12:29 am

— Three high school football players will represent Cass County in tonight’s North/South All-Star Classic at North Central High School in Indianapolis.
Logansport defensive end Luke Zinsmaster, Lewis Cass safety Rory Mannering and Pioneer offensive tackle Justin Ruff have been selected to compete in the annual event.
Zinsmaster’s father, Don Zinsmaster, played in the Classic back in 1975 and Mannering’s father, Scott Mannering, the head football coach at Cass, was the head coach for the North team in last year’s event. Ruff was a late selection to the event this year when one of the offensive lineman dropped out of the event.
Don Zinsmaster remembers well competing in the event 33 years ago representing Logansport High School.
“I was the starting center and I played the whole game,” he said. “We got beat 18-13. It was held in Bloomington at IU. I remember Camp Riley was an eye-opening experience.
“It was fun to hang out with all the guys and the practices were fun too. It’s great that Luke will get to experience that too. There are a lot of good football players. Everybody can move and it’s a really quick-moving game. That’s something I’ll always remember. And there was a good contingent from Logansport rooting for me and one of my teammates, Chris Wells, who was also in the game.”
It was at the All-Star game that Don Zinsmaster found his true position on the football field. He was selected as an all-state defensive tackle but was moved to center out of necessity for the team. Little did he know it at the time, but center was the position he would play until he decided to retire from the game last year at the age of 51. He played college football at both Marshalltown Junior College in Marshalltown, Iowa and at St. Joseph College. He then played semi-pro football for 25 years, the last 16 as a member of the Kokomo Mustangs.
He thinks he might still be able to play at the semi-pro level but added he’s “done.”
“I’m a spectator now. I now plan on going to Luke’s games at Wabash [College],” he said.
Don Zinsmaster, who helps coach the Logansport Raiders eighth grade football team, added he often lifts weights with his son to help stay in shape and that he sets goals with his son for every one of his upcoming football games, including goals for the All-Star game.
“I’d like to see him get a couple sacks and walk back to the huddle with a smile on his face,” he said. “That’s Luke’s demeanor. He doesn’t put on a big celebration or anything after he gets a sack. He just walks back to the huddle with a smile.”
Don Zinsmaster added his son plays the defensive end position with what he calls a “Dwight Freeney-style.”
Ruff just found out a week before the game he was selected to play after a spot had opened up.
“I had to make a quick decision,” he said, “and I decided to get my stuff together and pack up real quick.”
Ruff said so far he thinks he’s made the right decision.
“It’s been fun,” he said.
Standing at 6-foot-7, 320 pounds, Ruff said he’s still the biggest guy around, even at an All-Star football game.
“There’s guys that are similar in size, but I’m the biggest one in the whole camp,” he said. “It feels like I’m at home but I’ve got a lot of bigger guys around me.”
With only three offensive tackles on the North squad, Ruff should get plenty of playing time.
Ruff said that unlike Luke Zinsmaster and Rory Mannering, who will play football at Wabash College and Hanover College, respectively, he’s unsure if he will play college football. If he does, he said it will be at the University of Indianapolis.
“I’m sill undecided,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of problems with my knees and lower back. It all depends on how this turns out. I was feeling good but when I started practicing it started coming back. I might have to call it quits after one of the greatest moments of my life. ... Within the next month I might change my mind.”
Beau Wicker can be contacted at (574) 732-5113 or via e-mail at beau.wicker@pharostribune.com

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